The Legend of Mantia: Part Two, The War
by Anguirus111
Summary: Mantia returns once again to conquer the Lylat System (Added chapter the final chapter)
1. Free and ready to conquer

This story is set directly after the events in Star Fox: The search for the Star Fox team

This story is set directly after the events in Star Fox: The search for the Star Fox team.

This first part of the story contains a portion from the first part of the Mantia trilogy

"It's not moving as fast as before," said Peppy on the Great Fox's bridge.

"So it is," said James.Mantia who was ahead of them was limping along the sky as it headed towards a large canyon rock quarry.Then it dropped from the sky and slammed into the large canyon crevice.Pigma swung the targeting sight to directly on top of Mantia and was ready to pull the trigger.

"Permission to fire," said Pigma.

"Negative," said James.

"Why not?" asked Peppy.

"It doesn't deserve to die this way," said James.He took the targeting sight and aimed it at the top of the canyon.He pressed the button and the lasers fired on the top causing a landslide, which then buried Mantia.

"And that's the end of that," said James.

But it wasn't the end of Mantia.It was only the beginning because Mantia would come back and sooner than anyone would think.

Several year later: The victorious forces of the Cornerian Army returned from defeating Star Wolf and his large battlefleet.The Great Fox lead the wave of fighters towards the large party being held in the capital city.

The Great Fox rec-room: The team was sitting in chairs thinking of the battle that had just been won.In the background the T.V. was on showing the victory celebration: "It'll be nice to have some peace and quiet for once.What are you going to do Slippy during your vacation?" asked Fox.Slippy shrugged his shoulders.

"I know where I'm going.I'm going to a martial arts tournament," said Falco.

"Less talking, more partying," said Fox as the team filed out of their rec-room on board the Great Fox.Behind them the T.V. in the room hadn't been turned off so it still displayed the news.

"In other news, some ancient remains have been discovered in a large canyon next to the old Jacobson quarry.There has been a rock slide nearby and scientists are currently removing the rocks to see if there are more relics.The work has to go slowly due to the fact that there have been several Venomian bombs that never detonated when they were launched and could potentially explode at a moment's notice," said the newscaster.

Rock slide near Jacobson quarry: "What's our progress?" asked the project head leader.In the background were several cranes lifting the large rocks and moving them to ground level above the canyon.

"We're making medium progress.But that's still not why I called you here," said the consultant.

"Why then?" asked the project leader.The consultant rolled out a map showing the canyons and the rock layers.

"According to our scans.The rock level doesn't reach to the bottom of the canyon.Something is stuck between the rocks and the ground," said the consultant.The project leader was considering this when a worker ran to them.

"We've just hit a major snag!Come with me," said the worker running off back to the diggings.The consultant and the project leader both ran after him.When they got to the digging area there was an orb stuck between some rocks.

"That isn't what I think it is.Is it?" asked the leader.The worker nodded his head.

"That is a Venomian bomb, specifically a model 12-17.That has a blast radius of twelve kilometers," said the resident bomb specialist.

"Run!" yelled one of the workers.Instantly all of the workers jumped in their vehicles and drove away.

"Call the bomb squad," said the consultant.

3 hrs. later, Great Fox: The Star Fox team were laying around the rec-room all tired from the hearty partying.

"That was great!" said Fox.

"Yeah," agreed Slippy.Peppy rolled over on his side and accidentally hit the volume button on the T.V. remote.

"IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT A VENOMIAN BOMB HAS BEEN DISCOVERED INSIDE THE ROCK QUARRY," said the T.V. very loudly.

"Shut it off!" yelled Falco.Peppy was about to turn it off when he noticed the rock slide and the implications it presented.

"Oh, no!" yelled Peppy who then ran down out of the room and then went to the vehicle bay.The rest of the team ran after him.

"Quick get in!" yelled Peppy as he jumped into a hovercar.The team jumped in as well as Peppy slammed on the gas and the car zoomed off out of the bay and took off along the grass to the city streets leading to the quarry.

"Peppy, what has gotten over you.It's only a bomb.Maybe some equipment might be destroyed but there's nothing to be worried about," said Fox.

"You're right, it may be nothing, but if what happens, happens, we're all doomed," said Peppy.

"Why didn't we use our fighters?" asked Falco.

"Because they and the Great Fox are being refueled," said Slippy.Peppy drove off with grim determination to reach the site before the bomb quite possible exploded.

Canyon: The bomb squad was working double-time attempting to defuse the bomb while the consultant and the project leader watched on nervously.

"What's taking so long?" asked the leader impatiently.

"It's not like taking apart a bike!If we do this too quickly we can kiss ourselves goodbye as we're blown to pieces that would take years to collect," said the bomb manager.

"Okay, okay," said the leader backing off.Instantly a clicking noise was heard.A large dial read on the bomb: 3…2…1 and then the bomb exploded.The last thing the leader saw was a large body underneath the rocks and that one of the creature's eyes was opening.

Several kilometers away the team inside the Star Fox hovercar saw the large explosion and the shockwaves expanding outward towards the hovercar.

"Hold on!" yelled Fox as the car was flung backwards for a few feet.The team emerged from the car just as a loud roar was heard.

"No, no!It can't be!" exclaimed Peppy.

"What, what is it?" asked Fox.Out of the canyon a large manta ray emerged and flew off into emerging sunrise.

"Mantia," was all Peppy said as he passed out watching the beast fly away.


	2. Cornerian Army Falls

Note: Since Peppy had passed out, the Star Fox team hadn't noticed Mantia escape and the roar they thought had come from the e

Note: Since Peppy had passed out, the Star Fox team hadn't noticed Mantia escape and the roar they thought had come from the engine.Only Peppy noticed Mantia escape.

As the sun rose, Mantia flew with grim determination to conquer the Lylat System.However, Mantia was too badly injured from his battle with the Great Fox so many years ago.Mantia scanned its memory for someplace to go and heal itself when it remembered the place of its 'rebirth'.Mantia blazed through the sky headed towards the old research lab of Pacific Co. where it was genetically modified.

Meanwhile the Star Fox team burst into the Army hospital carrying a delirious Peppy.

"Mantia, Mantia, I won't surrender to you never," yelled Pepper in his sleep.

"What's gotten into him?" asked Fox as Peppy was strapped to a hospital bed.Then a doctor injected some anesthetic into Peppy.

"Promise me that you won't let Mantia get me," said Peppy.Fox just nodded confused as Peppy fell asleep.

"He must have just witnessed something that was a repressed memory in his mind," said the doctor.

"Peppy had a repressed memory?That's amazing," said Falco.

"What memory?" asked Slippy.

"Something to do with a Mantia," said the doctor.

"That's the million dollar question.What's a Mantia," said Fox.

"I believe that I can answer that question," said General Pepper walking towards them.

1 hr. later Military HQ: "So General what's a Mantia and why doesn't anyone know about it?" asked Fox.Pepper went over to a cabinet and took out a dossier and set it on the table.Fox picked up and held it so the team could see it.As Fox opened the folder it showed a large manta ray over a building.

"Where was this taken, the undersea city?" asked Fox.

"Look closer," said Pepper.Next to the manta ray was a cloud.

"It's not flying is it?That's not possible!Who did this?" demanded Fox.

"Who else?Flip the page," said Pepper.Fox flipped the page and it showed Andross with a large smile across his face and the manta ray hovering in the background.

"Figures," said Falco sighing.

"What's Mantia though?" asked Fox.

"Mantia is the creature's name," responded Pepper.Fox then briefly flipped through the pages until he reached a page with a picture of three satellites in orbit of Corneria.He read the paragraph below the picture:

"Due to the panic caused by the existence of Mantia, it has been determined that in order to restore peace, we have to erase the memories of everyone on Corneria for the last three weeks.All knowledge of this creature will be sealed in an underground vault and would only be opened should the creature reappear.The only people to retain knowledge of this creature's existence will be: the president, generals of the Cornerian Defense force, and the Star Fox team.Everyone else will have their memory whipped clean so that our society will continue to survive," said Fox.

"You erased their memories!" exclaimed Slippy.

"Yes, I know it went against everything this society had spent centuries to build but it had to be done.We had to abandon our principles just this once in order to save our society!We did it in order to survive," said Pepper.

"The moral issues are inconceivable," said Fox.

"We don't have time to worry about the moral issues, we have to focus on the return of Mantia," said Pepper.

"What do we do?" asked Falco.

Genetic Research Lab, Pacific Co.: Mantia crawled along the ground towards the large hanger doors and entered inside the building.The whole place was covered in cobwebs, but all of the equipment was still there because the mind-ray made everyone forget that the place existed.The door's closed behind Mantia and immediately the computers in the room came to life and several scans were taken of the creature.

"Bio-weapon damaged, beginning repairs taken from file: Mantia repair and renewal," said the computer.Instantly several mechanical arms reached out with large pieces of metal attached to them.

"Genetic reserves depleted.Adding mechanical enhancements," said the computer.A large piece of metal with large orb in the middle was placed over the place where Mantia's right eye would have been and attached it.The orb was Mantia's new artificial eye.Then other pieces of metal were attached all over Mantia's body.

"Adding weaponry," said the computer. On the top of Mantia's head that had been covered in metal, a large cannon was added.A large power reactor was also inserted into the body.Then two laser guns were added to Mantia's wings.

"And finally, voice synthesizers," said the computer.A large box was inserted just behind Mantia's throat.

"Repairs complete," said the computer.Mantia then rose up and looked through it's eyes at a large mirror showing it's semi-mechanical body.

"It is time," said Mantia who then swung around and zoomed out of the research bay and into the sky headed towards Corneria City.

Army HQ's vault: "The Great Fox?" asked Fox.

"That's right.It nearly took out Mantia before, and I'm hoping that it will be able to do so again," said Peppy who showed the Great Fox firing on Mantia and how portions of it were blown sky high.

"Gruesome," said Falco.Suddenly, alarms erupted all over the base.

"The heck," said Fox.General Powell raced out of the elevator towards them.

"Mantia's headed this way at Mach 2," said Powell who motioned for them to follow as he raced off.The team made their way to the war-room and watched as a satellite tracked Mantia headed towards Corneria City.

"It looks like it has been enhanced with mechanical parts," said Powell.

"Indeed it has," said Pepper and then to the Star Fox team "Before, it was just a large Manta Ray."

Army hospital: Air-raid sirens went off all over the city and patients and hospital workers alike ran in fear and panic.Instantly Peppy sat up and stared straight ahead and out of his window at the approaching creature.

"It has begun," said Peppy as Mantia zoomed overhead toward the city's center.

Army HQ: "Why haven't fighters been launched?" demanded Powell.

"All of the pilots who survived Star Wolf's attack are on leave," responded Pepper.

"Let's go," said Fox as the team headed off.

"Deploy Project X," said Pepper to a nearby technician.

As Mantia flew over a local park, a large laser cannon rose from the ground and fired on the creature.The bolt hit a piece of metal on Mantia, which promptly absorbed the blast.

"Self absorbing metals.I thought such technology was impossible," said Powell.

"Apparently the creature obtained them through some interaction with Andross' s equipment.But how….Oh no!We never bothered to destroy the lab where Mantia was created," said Pepper who slapped his head with his hand.Mantia meanwhile had turned around and faced the large cannon.

"Prepare for possible ramming," said Pepper.But instead of ramming the cannon, a hatch opened on the top of Mantia's head and a cannon of it's own came out.The cannon fired on the Project X cannon destroying it.

"It has built in weaponry!" exclaimed Pepper.

"We're in trouble now," said Powell watching the screen.Instantly, several laser blasts blanketed Mantia as three Arwings flew by.

"Star Fox, I might have know," said Mantia.

"Did that creature just talk?I thought Manta Ray's were incapable of speech," said Falco.

"I'm guessing that's a new addition to its repertoire," said Fox.The Great Fox silently approached from behind Mantia and then it fired.Mantia spun around and watched the approaching laser bolts.Mantia yanked up its left wing and deflected the bolt causing them to zoom off and hit a nearby building demolishing it.

"I expected so much better from you Star Fox team.Oh well, I guess that not everyone can learn new tactics.Oh well," said Mantia facing away from them.

"Where are you going?" demanded Fox.

"Where you're not," said Mantia.It's tail crackled with electricity and fired on the fighters causing all of their systems to short out.The three fighters crashed into the ground.The pilots walked out and faced Mantia.Fox yanked out his blaster and started firing at the creature.The bolts blasted harmlessly against Mantia's skin.A beam then flew from Mantia's artificial eye and destroyed the blaster in Fox's hand.

"What were you hoping to accomplish?" asked Mantia.Peppy ran out of the chaos of people and headed towards the team.

"Looks like I made it here in time," said Peppy.

"Ahhh, a familiar face.Hello Peppy Hare.You don't think that I would forget you.You tried to kill me.I would destroy you all, but I have better ways to spend my time like conquering the Lylat System," said Mantia.

"But I have an Ace up my sleeve.Rob fire!" yelled Peppy into his comm.The Great Fox fired again and this time connected with Mantia's body.The impact of the laser bolts caused Mantia to slam into the ground causing dust to billow up around it.

"Got him," said Falco.A loud roar was heard over the screams of the citizens.

"I don't think so," said Peppy.Mantia rose from the ground uninjured and did an about face turn.It then raced off towards the Great Fox.Mantia slammed into it causing the Great Fox to loose control and slam into the ground.

"Your days are numbered," said Mantia.Mantia then faced the Army HQ and fired at it with its head cannon.The whole building started to crumble to the ground.

"All of those people," said Fox shocked.

"We're finished," said Slippy.Mantia turned around to face them.

"You should have killed me when we had the chance," was all it said before flying off away from Corneria City.

Several Hours Later, Army Hospital: "That's all we can do for now.I'm afraid he's in critical condition," said a doctor referring to Pepper who was laying on a hospital bed.

"I'm afraid that about half of the generals are dead including General Powell.How Pepper survived is a miracle.Now if you'll excuse me, I sadly have triage to perform on the remaining survivors from the Army HQ building," said the doctor grimly.Fox just nodded and the doctor left the room.As he left, Slippy entered holding a singed dossier.

"They found it.It's a little burnt, but everything is readable," said Slippy.Pepper opened his eyes and looked at the Star Fox team.

"You must stop Mantia before it kills us all," was all he said before closing his eyes..

"What should we do?" asked Falco.

"Jake," said Pepper now barely conscious.

"Who?" asked Falco.

"He's that guy who helped us escape when we were on board Star Wolf's battlecruiser," said Slippy.

"Wasn't he a dealer in some illegal goods?" asked Fox.

"Yeah, and he left the rest of the fleet on the return to Corneria for the victory celebration due to fear of being arrested," said Slippy.

"He gave me his card when we were still stuck on Star Wolf's cruiser.I say we contact him," said Fox.The team left Pepper behind as they headed for an interstellar communication booth and punched in a nine-code number.

"What do you want?" asked a raspy voice.

"This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team and I request your assistance," said Fox.

"Oh, hi Fox," said Jake in his regular non-raspy voice.

"We need your help," said Fox.

"Let me guess, against that creature that attacked Corneria City.I can't help you help you out, but I know who can," said Jake.

"Who?" asked Slippy.

"You ever hear of a velociraptor named Dan?" asked Jake.


	3. The new bioweapons on the block

A real quick note: Mantia is my creation and I hold rights to its use as well as Jake and Dan

A real quick note: Mantia is my creation and I hold rights to its use as well as Jake and Dan.Powell is up to you to use since I killed him off.Also, in case you were wondering, Mantia is pronounced man(as in man)-chuh (as in chug)

Freighter in Orbit of Zoness: Dan was on the comm. system with Katt Monroe.

"Thanks for the parts," said Katt.

"Hey, I'm the only supplier around," said Dan.

"If not, we would've lost that ocean cleaner for good," said Katt.

"Don't worry about it.Well, we've got to be off, too many clients and not enough time," said Dan.

"And those clients would be?" asked Katt hopefully.

"No one that concerns you.Or the Cornerian Special Police," said Dan signing off.Then Dan called the bridge.

"As soon as the last tug is on board, move on to our next destination.I'm getting some shuteye, so don't wake me up," said Dan.Dan slumped over his desk and snored away as he dreamed off one day being the only supplier for everyone in the Lylat System.He has just gotten to the part where he was counting his money when he was woken up by a technician holding a pad.

"I thought I said don't wake me," said Dan angrily.

"You did.But years ago you said that if this name was ever mentioned, you should be alerted immediately," said the technician handing him the pad.Dan looked at it and saw the note, which read: Should there be any mention of a large manta ray that flies and destroys cities and is named Mantia, tell me immediately.Dan gasped really hard and fell out of his chair.

"Sir?" asked the technician.

"When did you hear of this?" asked Dan.The technician grabbed a remote and pressed it on the nearby T.V.

"If you're just joining us, here's the latest news.Corneria City has been attacked by a large manta ray that flew in and destroyed the Army HQ building.The president has dubbed this creature 'Mantia' and that it be referred to this name from now on.Details are sketchy but it has been reported that this is was a bio-weapon that had been designed by Andross," said the reporter.

Meanwhile Mantia was in the research bay looking at the local newscasts.

"I can't scare them if they know nothing about me.I would have to start from scratch.Computer, how do you account for this discrepancy?" asked Mantia.On a computer screen it showed the three satellites in orbit.

"Everyone's memory was erased to stop the panic that followed after you were entrapped in that canyon," said the computer.

"Can the process be reversed?" asked Mantia.

"Affirmative.However, the satellites must be repositioned manually," said the computer.

"Can I survive in outer space?" asked Mantia.

"Affirmative," said the computer.

"Than I'm going to restore chaos to our chaotic society," said Mantia taking off to outer space.

Army HQ: Pepper had recovered and was sitting up in his bed watching the Great Fox being airlifted out of the city.

"How's it going General?" asked Peppy.

"Fine.Hard to believe Mantia's back," said Pepper.

"Yeah," responded Peppy.A commander ran into the room.

"Sir, the target has been spotted in orbit of Corneria," said the commander.

"So, now it can exist in outer space, what's next?What's it doing?" asked Pepper.

"It's repositioning three of our satellites.Here's the best photo we could get," said the commander. It showed an image of Mantia next to one of the satellites.

"What's it doing?Oh, no!It's going to restore everyone's memory of its initial attack.We have to stop it.Commander," started Pepper before Peppy cut him off mid sentence.

"It's for the best.If people know about, then they'll know how to prepare for it," said Peppy.

"All right," said Pepper resigned.In outer space Mantia had just repositioned the final satellite.

"Go for it," said Mantia into its comlink.A beam of energy zoomed up and was deflected from the three satellites and then returned to the planet and encompassed it.Five seconds later the beam stopped.

"Memories restored," said the computer.

And on the surface: "Like we said earlier.Mantia has returned to menace us once again and now I remember where I put my old T.V. remote," said the reporter bewildered at how she could have forgotten that the creature was Mantia.

Back on the freighter: Dan watched the current newscast and nodded his head.

"Looks like their memory has been restored," said Dan.A beeping was heard on the technician's headset.

"Sir, incoming message from Corneria.It's the Star Fox team," said the technician.

"I expected as much.Patch it through.You can leave now," said Dan.The technician nodded and left the room.Dan spun around and faced the monitor in his room.An image of Fox McCloud appeared.

"Greetings Star Fox team!I never met you in person so I'm wondering as to how you got my number," said Dan.

"Actually, Jake gave it to us.He said something about routing it so you would be charged for the bill and he would collect the money," said Fox.

"Not again," said Dan.He brought up a keypad and typed in: reverse charges.

Freighter in orbit of Venom: "Excellent," said Jake as he watched his bank account increase.Then it started to plummet.Jake instantly cut his part of the connection and left with one dollar from his scam.

"Oh, well," said Jake.

Freighter: "That was fun.But Mantia on the other hand is no laughing matter," said Dan.

"You know of Mantia?" asked Peppy.

"Yes, I lived with my foster parents in Coastal City, which was where Mantia first began his attack," said Dan.

"So weren't you affected when the satellites erased everyone's memory?" asked Slippy.

"Actually no.I am unlike anything that has ever been seen on your planet.I don't know where I came from, but I was resistant to the mind erasure program, so I retained my memory of the events," said Dan.

"Look, we need your help," said Falco.

"I'll do anything I can.I know how terrible Mantia is and if I don't help you defeat this creature, we're all going to be doomed.I'll be coming to Corneria as soon as possible.I'll loan your team some newly 'acquired' Wolfen class fighters while your Arwings are being repaired.We can't repair your dreadnought, but that won't be necessary at the moment since Mantia seems to be able to deflect your bolts.I'll be by in about three days.Until then, sit tight," said Dan.

"Will do," said Fox signing off.

"What do you think Mantia' doing now?" asked Slippy.

"Probably planning a way to defeat us," said Falco.

Research base: "Excellent, it's done," said Mantia.In front of him were some small creatures were on the ground.They included: a scorpion, a lobster, a crab, and a snake.Mantia gathered the creatures in its mouth and flew off.

Makeshift army base: "General, you shouldn't be up.With people's memory restored you aren't needed as much.I'm not saying that to be rude, but you need to rest," said Fox.

"Nonsense, I'm the only active general left who was around when Mantia first attacked.Plus, the creature has been gone for awhile now, and since we're mostly blind due to the inability to access most of our sensors, that means that the creature could be anywhere," said Pepper.A technician ran up to them.

"Sir, instant communiqué from Bill Grey," said the technician.

"Let's have it," said Pepper.

"Due to our limited communication capabilities, and the fact that we don't want anyone else to know that we don't know where the creature is, it's audio only," said the technician who handed Pepper a radio.

"Go ahead commander," said Pepper.

"General, Mantia landed on our planet a few moments ago and took off again," said Bill.

"What?Are you sure?" asked Pepper.

"I don't think it's possible to confuse a large manta ray with something else sir," said Bill.

"Yeah, but still, it's odd that it would have left Corneria," said Pepper.On the radio he could hear a commotion in the background and a rhythmic thumping.

"Bill?" asked Pepper.

"The heck is that?" asked someone on Bill's line.

"It looks like a giant scorpion," said someone else.Instantly, several laser blasts were heard and alarms rang in the background on the radio. 

"Bill!" yelled Pepper into the radio.

"We have to sign off.We're under attack by a giant scorpion with a laser cannon where the tip of its tail would be," said Bill.Instantly the radio went dead.

"What's happening up there?" Fox asked.

Katina: A large scorpion had just appeared from behind the crashed mothership that had crashed a few years ago.The scorpion had started firing its laser against the base, which had created huge burn marks on the outside.

"Launch our fighters," said Bill.A pair of doors opened on one side of the base and several fighters emerged.The fighters immediately spun around and opened fire on the scorpion.

"Deploy the tanks," said Bill.A few feet away, a portion of the ground disappeared as a wave of tanks emerged from a secret underground exit and rolled in front of the approaching scorpion.They opened fire as well, which further battered the scorpion.Then the tail blaster came into play as it opened fire on the fighters.The blast connected with three fighters, subsequently blasting them out of the sky.The scorpion then reached forward with one its claws and grabbed a hold of one of the tanks.The scorpion applied pressure and the tank exploded.The scorpion roared out, issuing a challenge to all that opposed it.

"Deploy the master cannon," said Bill.On the top of the building a large cannon emerged and started firing as well.

"Keep it up.It should fall," said Bill.The scorpion kept on fighting resiliently against the overwhelming odds.However, its legs were soon shot out from under it.

"We got it," said Bill.However, as the tanks and fighters approached it, the scorpion exploded sending out a wall of energy that blew the fighters and tanks away.The wall of energy was quickly approaching the base.

"Brace for impact," said Bill.The energy wall passed through the base damaging the whole building.Smoke soon filled the room and several alarms went off all over the base.Fire soon broke out in the control room but thankfully the fire suppression system was working and doused the fires.Eventually the alarms went off.

"Damage," said Bill.A schematic of the outside of the building was shown.The top three levels were gone and the whole outside of the building had been burned away.

"We're still alive, but we lost three tanks, and fifteen fighters, as well as several personnel.That's odd though, I would have thought it was going to kill us all," said a technician.

"Unless it wasn't supposed to," said Bill silently as he realized the implications of this statement.

"I need to get in contact with General Pepper immediately," said Bill.

Zoness: "The heck," said a flight leader.His squadron was responded to the disappearance of an automated ocean cleaner.The officer had expected the transmitter to be offline but instead he found a large lobster attacking the cleaner.

"What's up?" asked Katt Monroe from the army field office.

You're not going to believe this, but a large lobster is attacking the cleaner," said the officer.In the background Mantia leaving the planet.

"I think I know how it got here, the large creature that had attacked Corneria City is just leaving," said the officer.

"Well, that explains a few things," said Katt.The lobster had noticed them and reached up with its claws and attempted to grab one of the fighters.

"Evasive maneuvers," said the officer.The fighters scattered, but one of them accidentally rammed into the ocean cleaner causing it and the cleaner to explode.

"Great," said the officer.The lobster dipped under the toxic water and swam away.

"It's underwater.We can't track it," said the officer.

"Scout the area, our underwater subs will get it," said Katt.Under the water the lobster was headed off towards one of the populated islands.Behind it, three subs approached it undetected.

"Lock on," said the sub admiral.

"Locking on," said the gunner.

"Fire!" yelled the admiral.All three subs opened fire on the lobster as it swam away.The lobster noticed the torpedoes and swam away even faster.Then the lobster noticed the remains of the large battleboat that the Star Fox team had destroyed.(The boss at the end of Zoness, with the pirate lieutenant)The lobster swam around the wreckage of the battleboat and the torpedoes compensated only to wind up destroying more of the battleboat.A large cloud of dust billowed around the explosion.

"Hold position," said the admiral.Suddenly the dust was thrust aside as the lobster headed right at them.It destroyed two of the subs immediately and was holding onto the admiral's sub with its claw.

"It's attempting to crush us!" yelled the deck officer.All around them creaking was heard because of the outside shell cracking.In front of the sub loomed the lobster.

"We have only one choice.Fire torpedoes!" yelled the admiral.The gunner looked at him and then simply nodded his head.

"You've been the best crew that I've ever had and you've followed my orders to the end.Thank you.Launch flight recorder and fire torpedoes," said the admiral.The torpedoes were launched at the lobster and they exploded taking the sub with it.The lobster floated a few feet from the blast before it exploded as well.Above the surface a huge plume of water emerged and then settled down.The fighters above saw the plume and knew what had happened.

"The subs are gone, but so it seems is the lobster.We have been saved," said the officer.

"In the meantime, we have no subs left," said Katt.

"Let's just remember their sacrifice," said the officer.

"Agreed, return to base," said Katt.

"In a moment, we're detecting the admiral's ship recorder," said the officer.

Corneria: "So in my mind, the new bio-weapons are suicide drones.They either reach their target and explode or else, they can't go any farther and explode thus causing the planet to still be able to operate but its military force considerably weakened," said Bill.

"Sir, we've just received a message from Zoness.They were attacked by a giant lobster," said another commander.

"And what happened to it?" asked Pepper.

"The thing took out two subs, and a third sacrificed itself to destroy the lobster which subsequently exploded well out of reach of its target," said the commander.

"What's its path?" asked Pepper.A line was shown going from Corneria to Katina and then Zoness.

"It looks like it's making around trip and is hitting the populated planets.It's next stop looks to be Macbeth!" exclaimed Fox.

"The number one supplier of weapons, ships, and anything technologically related," said Pepper.

"You'd better alert Macbeth," said Fox.All of a sudden a large shadow loomed over their heads.

"Not Mantia," said Falco.Thankfully, the shadow over them was caused by a landing craft from Dan's company not a large manta ray.The landing craft then landed a few feet away.One of the doors opened and out came Dan.

"Star Fox team, let's go," said Dan.The team ran for the craft and entered into it.

"Let's go," said Falco.Dan was looking at Pepper.

"Just a moment," said Dan.He ran out to Pepper.

"It's been a long time," said Dan.

"Indeed it has," said Pepper.

"I can't stay, but I'll be back.Goodbye uncle," said Dan.He ran off to the landing craft, which took off back to his freighter.

"Good luck, Dan," said Pepper looking at the retreating craft.Pepper then turned to divert his attention to warning Macbeth.

On board the landing craft: "What did you have to tell Pepper?" asked Falco.

"Nothing," responded Dan.The landing craft entered the freighter and the five members walked out.

"Next stop, Macbeth," said Dan.The freighter entered warp and sped off.


	4. Prelude to war

Freighter in route to Macbeth: "So, we know for sure that Mantia is definitely going to pass through Macbeth, Fortuna, and Cor

Freighter in route to Macbeth: "So, we know for sure that Mantia is definitely going to pass through Macbeth, Fortuna, and Corneria," said Dan looking at a map of the system.

"I thought of that.I know it isn't for the best but we're going to have to split up in order to properly combat this threat.I want Slippy and Peppy to proceed to Macbeth. Falco, I want you to return to Corneria, and I'll try to protect Fortuna," said Fox.

"I'll help you at Fortuna, Fox," said Dan.

"With any luck I'll get some real action when Mantia decides to take on Corneria," said Falco rubbing his hands in anticipation.

"A shame we didn't realize this sooner because we can't return to Corneria.Falco, Fox, and I will drop off here.Falco, you'll have to fly back to Corneria by yourself.When we're dropped off, the freighter will then proceed to Macbeth where it will drop off Peppy and Slippy.Everyone got that," said Dan.Everyone nodded.

"Sir, what about us?" asked the pilot of the ship.

"After you drop off Peppy and Slippy, head to our base of operations and wait.If you hear of my death, simply put into effect operation 316," said Dan.

"Yes sir," said the pilot.

"Now then, let's check out your new ships," said Dan.He and the Star Fox team entered the central bay of the ship.Dan walked up to one of the fighters.

"As you well know, the Wolfen class was, maybe still is, the primary fighter for the Star Wolf team during the Andross Wars.They handle almost exactly the same as your Arwing fighters so you don't need any new training.Just fly and shoot, it's that easy," said Dan.

"Approaching Fortuna, exiting warp in one minute," said the ships intercom.

"Let's go," said Dan as he walked off to his own custom designed fighter.Fox and Falco also walked off to their new fighters.

"Exiting warp," said the intercom.The freighter exited warp above Fortuna.Dan, Fox, and Falco exited the ship, which promptly reentered warp headed towards Macbeth.

"Later," said Falco as he flew off back to Corneria.Fox and Dan flew into Fortuna's atmosphere.

"Attention fighters, this is Fortuna control.We just received the message from General Pepper, you are clear to proceed to the military base," said the comm. system.

"Roger that," said Fox.A squad of Fortuna fighters formed around them as they went to prepare for the oncoming assault.

Macbeth: The freighter exited warp above the planet and Slippy and Peppy flew off.On the surface of the planet there were several small flashes of light.

"What's going on down there?" asked Peppy.

"Apparently Mantia decided to not leave the planet as quickly and is attacking the planet as well.Mantia also decided to bring a nice present along, a giant crab.The crab is currently attacking Space Dynamics Co., Ltd.," said the sensor operator on the freighter.

"Let's go," said Slippy.The two fighters sped towards the surface at maximum speed while the freighter mad preparations to enter warp.

"Handles like our Arwings," said Peppy.

"Its control figurations are also similar," said Slippy.Ahead of them they saw the large crab battling several laser equipped mining drones.Behind the crap was a demolished train that had run into the crab.

"Let's lock and load Slippy," said Peppy.Their two fighters zoomed down firing at the crab.The crab roared in defiance at the two fighters before continuing to destroy the large production facility with its claws.

"We've got to stop it," said Slippy.

"But how are we going to, it's too tough," said Peppy.Their fighters zoomed around and made another pass on the creature.

"It's moving rather slowly," said Slippy.Then, all of a sudden their collision alarms went off.Both ships jerked to the side as Mantia flew by.

"This ends now!" yelled Peppy.He fired a bomb that exploded on top of Mantia.The bomb hardly fazed Mantia as it keep flying onwards.Two laser cannons emerged from its wings and fired on the production facility.

"How do you feel when being so helpless?" asked Mantia.Peppy roared in anger and zoomed after Mantia.

"You're not escaping this time!I'll die before you leave this planet," said Peppy.

"If that's how it's going to be, then that's how it's going to be.Prepare to die," said Mantia arcing around to face the fighters.Peppy just slammed on the engines with no regrets.Slippy fell in behind him and fired on his engines causing Peppy to loose momentum.

"What are you doing?" asked Peppy.

"What has to be done.Goodbye Peppy, you were a good friend," said Slippy.Slippy just zoomed ahead of Peppy towards Mantia who was approaching with guns blazing.Then Slippy slammed his ship into Mantia causing the fighter to explode in front of Mantia.

"Slippy," said Peppy.Mantia roared out loud in pain as its whole body caught on fire.Peppy then opened fire himself on the creature, which caused it even more pain.

"Why won't you die," said Peppy.Mantia fell into a local river causing water to rush up on the banks.Some of the mining drones rolled up to the river and scanned the river hoping that they could lock onto something.Suddenly energy crackled beneath the surface of the water and huge bolts of electricity flew out destroying the nearby drones and destroying Peppy's shields.Mantia then burst from the water and into the sky.

"Your friend is dead and you will be too if you attempt to resist me again," said Mantia flying away.Behind Peppy a large explosion was heard as the crab had reached its destination and exploded.The resulting shockwave took out the production facility and all of the mining drones that had attacked it.

"I've failed," said Peppy.Then his comm. started beeping.

"Slippy?" asked Peppy hopefully.

"Negative.This is Dan's freighter in orbit of the planet.I'm sorry about your friend.Can we take you back to Corneria," asked the comm. officer.

"Yes, I need to tell Fox what has happened," said Peppy starting to cry for his good friend.Then his eyes filled with rage once again and he took off for the freighter.

Fortuna: Fox and Dan were meeting with the commander in charge of the base.

"So, the new bio-weapons are in fact only designed to reach their target and explode," said the commander.

"That's correct," said Dan.

"Do you think that the creature will attack us, or the research stations a few miles from here?" asked the commander.

"I would say here only because that the creatures have attacked important military related targets.I don't think that research facilities would qualify," said Fox.

"It's your call," said the commander.

"It's for the best," said Dan.A technician turned from his console.

"Sir, you might want to see this," said the technician.The commander nodded his head and on the screen it showed a newscast.

"This is Macbeth news and here's the latest.A large crab managed to literally claw its way into the center of the Space Dynamics Co., Ltd., production building and explode, taking the production area with it.The bio-weapon Mantia proceeded to tie up local attacks in order for the crab to have time to reach its target.Two Wolfen class vessels were seen attacking it and one it seems rammed right into the creature," said the reporter.The T.V. screen switched to show the fighters approaching Mantia and one of them rammed right into the creature.

"Was that Slippy?" asked Fox.

"I think so," said Dan.

"Sir, message from your freighter," said the technician.

"I thought I told them to go to our base of operations," said Dan.

"Sir, the person's who's calling is called Peppy," said the technician.

"Put him on," said Fox who walked over to the comm. station and activated the unit.

"Peppy," began Fox.

"Slippy's dead, he's dead Fox.It's all my fault," said Peppy.

"You can't blame yourself," said Fox.

"He stopped me from attempting to ram Mantia and in doing so, he rammed the creature himself.Why would he do that?Why?" Peppy asked.

"He's in shock," said Dan.

"Sounds like it.Are you sure?" asked Fox.

"Hey, I may have been young, but I saw plenty of people in shock following Mantia's first attack so many years ago," said Dan.

"Look, Peppy," said Fox when suddenly alarms went off all over the building.

"Mantia's approaching prepare to launch fighters," said the commander.Dan took the microphone from Fox.

"Guys, he's unfit to fly, don't let him off of the ship," said Dan, who then ran off to the launch area and his own ship.

"It isn't your fault Peppy," said Fox leaving as well.

Fifteen miles southwest of the base: Mantia landed on the ground and opened its mouth to let the snake crawl out.A laser beam came out of Mantia's artificial eye and encompassed the snake.

"Beginning enlargement sequence," said Mantia.The snake started growing and growing until it was 20 feet tall and 100 feet long from mouth to tail.

"Reach the base and destroy it," said Mantia.The snake flicked its tongue and started slithering off towards the base.

"Next stop Corneria," said Mantia taking off.

Fortuna Base: Several fighters took off out of the base headed to intercept the new bio-weapon.

"All fighters report in," said commander.

"Grey 2 standing by,"

"Grey 3 standing by,"

"Grey 4 standing by,"

"Grey 5 standing by,"

"Grey 6 standing by,"

"Grey 7 standing by,"

"Fox here standing by,"

"Dan here, ready to rock and roll,"

"Target is right over that hill," said the commander.The nine fighters cleared the hill and saw the snake approaching.

"A snake, this is just getting better," said the commander (hereby referred to as Dallas)

"Don't let its looks fool you, that thing is probably more dangerous than it looks," said Dan.

"Whatever, open fire!" yelled Dallas.All nine ships fired on the snake hoping to damage it, but instead most of the shots were reflected off of the snake's slick skin.

"You'd better evacuate the base," said Fox.

"You may be right.Fortuna base, prepare to evacuate," said Dallas.

"Roger that, we're evacuating to research station twelve-thirteen," came the response.

"Grey 6 and 7, protect the evacuees," said Dallas.

"Roger that," the two pilots said before breaking off of formation.

"Fire again," said Dallas.The fighters fired again, and once more, the shots were reflected.However, this time the snake used its tail to destroy Grey 4.

"Watch out for its tail," observed Dallas.

"Raptor's Pride (Dan's freighter) can you lock onto it?" asked Dan.

"We could, but we don't know what would happen if we fire," came the response.

"You're probably right," said Dan.

"Where's Mantia?" asked Fox.

"Last we knew, it was entering Meteo," said Dallas.

Meteo: Mantia was proceeding through the asteroid field when suddenly dozens of meteors nearby exploded all around it driving rocks against its body.

Corneria: "That should slow it down," said Falco.

"One certainly hopes so," said Pepper.

Fortuna: "You'd best make your way back to Corneria because there's nothing more that we can do," said Dallas.

"Alright, Dan and Fox are breaking off attack," said Fox.Their two fighters zoomed off towards the Raptor's Pride while the Fortuna defense force went to escort the escape convoy.

"Prepare ship for maximum warp," said Dan.

"Sir, are you sure?That's only used for cross system travel," came the response.

"You heard me.Maximum warp," said Dan.The two fighters entered the bay and landed.

"Let's go Fox," said Dan.Since everyone was preparing for maximum warp, no one was with Peppy as he entered the bay just as Fox and Dan left through another exit.Peppy then made his way over to one of the Wolfen fighters.He hopped inside and prepped the ship for takeoff.He then took off and exited the ship.

"Sir, someone's exiting the ship!" exclaimed a technician.

"Who?" asked Fox.

"Peppy Hare," said the technician.

"I thought someone was supposed to be with him," said Dan.

"It takes the whole crew to prep for warp, no one could watch him," came the response.

"We don't have time to retrieve him.Everyone strap in, go to maximum warp," said Dan.The freighter peeled off and entered maximum warp leaving Peppy's ship behind, which turned to head towards Macbeth.

Corneria: Several dozen fighters and several tanks prepared for the onslaught of Mantia.

"Where is it?" asked Falco from his newly repaired Arwin fighter.

"I don't know," responded Pepper.

Research facility: "The time has come for the ultimate downfall of the Lylat System.I know this means very little to you but I want you to know that you are the to be the first step in my role of dominance towards conquering the Lylat System.Go and attack Corneria City," said Mantia to a large group of large bio-weapons.The bio-weapons merely nodded and marched on towards Corneria City and the battle ahead.

17th advanced artillery defense unit seventeen miles south of Corneria City: A group of soldiers were setting up mortar defenses and mobile laser cannons when a large rhythmic pounding was heard.

"What is that?" someone asked.One of the soldiers grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked out towards the area in front of them.

"Anything?" asked the unit leader.

"Not at the moment," came the response.Then, over a hill in the distance a large crab emerged followed by different creature bio-weapons.

"Attention HQ!This is the 17th advanced artillery unit.Bio-weapons sighted," said the radioman.

"How many are there?" asked Pepper.The radioman looked at the unit leader.

"A lot, too many to count," said the leader.

"Multiple targets, too many to even give an estimate," said the radioman.

"We are sending a squad of fighters to assist you," said Pepper.The unit leader grabbed the microphone.

"A squad won't do it, there's too many bio-weapons out here," said the leader.

"Just slow them down.Fight until it looks completely hopeless and then retreat," said Pepper.

"Aye sir.Fire the mortars," said the leader.A dozen mortar shells were released and went flying off into the wave of creatures.Several shots connected but it merely slowed the creatures down for a few minutes before they resumed their regular pace.

"Fire the laser cannons," said the leader.Several laser shots flew out at the advancing army but again, it merely slowed their advancement before continuing on.Then a roar was heard as the squad of fighters flew overhead.

"Target the lead creatures and open fire," said the flight commander.The fighters opened fire on the first row of the creatures.Eventually, they managed to destroy one of the bio-weapons.

"The targets are stronger than before.They'll take longer to destroy than the one's that attacked the other planet's," said the commander to HQ.

Artillery Unit: The creatures were rapidly becoming larger as they approached the unit.

"HQ, permission to fall back," said the unit leader.

"Flight Commander?" asked Pepper.

"There's nothing more they can do. In another three minutes the creatures will be right on top of them," said the flight commander.

"Granted.Recover the mortar units and set the laser cannons on autofire," said Pepper.

"Roger that.Time to pull out.Mortars go and laser cannons are to be set to continuous fire," said the leader.The unit hurried about as they set about to fulfill the order.Then they all ran into the unit hovercraft and took off.

"Return to Corneria City 17th advanced artillery unit," said Pepper.The squad continued firing on the creatures.

"This isn't going so well," said a pilot.

"I know," said the commander.

"Sir, large object approaching at extreme speeds," said a pilot.

"It's Mantia," said another.

"Let's try and slow it down," said the commander.Mantia came right at the fighters, which opened fire on the creature.Mantia just shrugged off the blasts as its three laser cannons emerged and fired on the fighters taking out most of them.When Mantia flew by, its tail shot out electricity, which demolished the rest.Mantia then proceeded out to the ocean.

Corneria City: "Now what!" exclaimed Falco.Mantia was seen a few miles away, over the ocean, opening its mouth.A dozen creatures fell out into the water.A beam emerged from Mantia's eyes and when it ended Mantia flew off towards the advancing wall of bio-weapons.

"Fire anti-aircraft missiles," said Pepper.Several missiles flew out and struck Mantia and the underside of its body.Mantia lost some altitude but then continued onward.

"Will nothing destroy it?" asked Pepper.

Macbeth: Peppy had finally reached the planet and prepared to land on the surface.He checked his scans and it confirmed that the key to destroying Mantia and avenging Slippy's death was located beneath the surface of the planet.

Outskirts of Corneria City: The wall of bio-weapons came to a stop just outside the city.The Cornerian Defense Force was outside the city facing the bio-weapons.Mantia hovered above the bio-weapons while General Pepper was once again in a fighter hovering above the Cornerian Army.

"Attack!" yelled Mantia.

"Attack!" yelled Pepper.

The armies converged on each other.


	5. The final battle for Corneria City

Silence

One quick note: The characters that can talk are humanoid in nature (i.e. Fox, Pepper, etc.) the bio-weapons however (Mantia, etc.) are in animal form, as they would look on our planet.I hope you enjoyed this story because this is the last chapter.I will add one last section that has my comments on this story that provides some insight into how I wrote this story.I hope you enjoy it.My next story will finish up the legend of mantia trilogy and I will write a new Star Fox story that explains why Andrew Oikonny wasn't in my story Star Fox: The Search for the Star Fox team.Bye for now.  Silence…. 

Instantly thousands of laser bolts started firing at the bio-weapons.The bio-weapons continued advancing towards the Cornerian Defense Force as they continued firing on the enemies.Occasionally a bio-weapon would go down but five bio-weapons would take its place.

"We've got them beat at long-range weaponry," said Pepper cruising above the action in his fighter.However, several blasts came rocketing back at them from the tail blasters on the scorpions.

"Then again, maybe not," said Pepper.The laser bolts kept flying back and forth between the two forces.

Ocean: Six subs were underneath the water and several attackboats were on top of the water ready for an ocean assault.

Lead Sub: "Admiral take a look at this," said a sonar operator.The admiral walked over to the sonar and looked at it.On the screen where several blips which confirmed that bio-weapons were in the ocean.

"Inform HQ.Ready torpedo tubes," said the admiral.Alarms started ringing all over the ship as it went to mode red.

"Fire torpedoes," said the admiral.Six torpedoes emerged from the subs headed towards the targets and several explosions were heard

"Report," said the admiral.

"Sir!The targets are still advancing," said the sonar operator.Instantly the bio-weapons converged on the subs and started attacking them.

"We're finished.Order the attackboats to drop depth charges," said the admiral.

"Aye sir," said the radio operator.Instantly water started flooding into the cabin.

"Message sent," said the radio operator.

"Prepare for contingency plan seven," said the admiral.Everyone looked at the admiral and knew that it was the only way to give Corneria City a fighting chance.

"Self-destruct system activated," said the captain.

"Other subs have also activated their self-destruct devices," said the radio operator.The bio-weapons continued attacking the subs and then the subs exploded.

Surface of the water, Lead Attackboat: "Sonar confirmed.Six explosions," said the sonar operator.

"How many bio-weapons left?" asked the commander.

"Four that are still moving," responded the sonar operator.

"Drop depth charges," said the captain.

"Depth charges dropped," said the weapons operator.Several depth charges were fired into the water.Then they exploded beneath the water.

"Negligible damage.One of the targets is coming underneath the port attackboat.Wait a minute, it's surfacing!" exclaimed the sonar operator.The port attackboat buckled and cracked as a large squid surfaced underneath it.The squid then lashed out its tentacles and destroyed three other battleboats.

"Back us off!Fire at that thing," said the commander.The forward laser guns opened fire on the squid with laser cannons, depths charges, and torpedoes.The squid was taking most of the damage with only a few breaks in its skin.However, one of the laser bolts managed to connect with the munitions supply of the boat located on top of the squid.The bay exploded and took out the squid.

"Where's the other bio-weapons?" asked the commander.

"They made a break for the city," said the sonar operator.

"Bring us around," said the commander.The attackboats spun around and advanced towards Corneria City.

Land Battle: "Wing 6, concentrate your fire on the crabs," said Pepper.His fighter flew over the large battle below as thousands of explosions rocked the ground.

The bio-weapons were relentless in their pursuits to enter Corneria City.

"Sir, large mass approaching, it's Mantia," said a commander.

"All aerial units prepare to attack Mantia," said Pepper.All wings of fighters prepped themselves to attack the bio-weapon.Several miles away, Mantia burst from the clouds along with several other flying bio-weapons.

"Looks like it's brought some friends along," said Falco.

"That it has," responded Pepper.Mantia and the flying bio-weapons converged on the fighters at full speed.

"Fire!" yelled Pepper.All wings opened fire on Mantia and its companions.While Mantia kept blazing forward, his colleagues strayed behind apparently trying to avoid the laser blasts.The three laser cannons emerged from Mantia's body and fired on the fighters.

"Evasive maneuvers," said Pepper.The fighters all tried to swerve out of the way.Six fighters didn't make it and were destroyed.

"Sir, we're under aerial attack!" yelled an artillery commander.The flying bio-weapons were attacking the ground units.One bird landed on a tank, cawed loudly, and exploded taking out several tanks and soldiers.

"There's a gap in the field!" yelled Falco.

"Wing 4, cover the gap," said Pepper.Several bio-weapons entered in through the field and into the city.

"Alert inner city defense force," said Pepper.Six tanks converged onto Main Street as two crabs and a scorpion entered into the heart of the city.The tanks fired on the creatures, but their thick skin hardly caused them to slow down.Behind the bio-weapons two captured Venomian building pushers approached the creatures (the large robots that pushed over buildings on the Corneria level of Star Fox64).One of them rolled over one of the crabs and crushed it.The other grabbed the scorpion by the tail and crushed it.Then, the building pusher proceeded to pick up the scorpion and threw it out of the city.The second wall crawler pushed a building over and crushed the final crab.

"The uninvited guests has been dealt with," said a tank commander.

"Very good," said Pepper.Explosions started erupting all over the outskirts of the city as the bio-weapons rumbled over several defense stations.

"Fall back to secondary positions," said Pepper.Several defense units fell back to just inside city limits.Several burning fighters streamed towards the ground and exploded into several buildings.

Above Corneria: The Raptor's Pride emerged from warp and Jake and Dan flew out of the main hanger bay.

"Looks like they're overwhelmed," said Dan.The two fighters headed for Corneria City.

Corneria City: The bio-weapons had pushed through the outer limits of the city and were advancing towards the center of the city.

"They've overridden defense points six and seven," said a ground commander.

"Shoot," said Pepper.Several buildings fell in the background as the bio-weapons proceeded to push them over.

"It was easier to use a fighter to attack enemy forces when there weren't that many buildings in Corneria City," grumbled Falco.

"Yeah, well.That's because this is such a great place to live," said Pepper.A building fell down towards him and Pepper barely managed to avoid the building and being crushed.

"Well, not anymore," said Falco.

"Maybe one day it will," said Fox zooming by overhead.

"Hey Fox.Late as usual," said Falco.

"Yeah well better late than never," responded Fox.

"I heard what happened to Slippy.I may have annoyed him in the past, but in the end he had the courage to sacrifice his own life to try and take out Mantia.I would never have done that," admitted Falco.Mantia flew overhead firing at the nearby buildings.Several fighters pursued Mantia firing their lasers at it.

"I take it bombs have no effect," said Dan.

"You would be correct," said Pepper.A large explosion was heard as a large flying object caught on fire and was headed right for Falco, Dan, Pepper, and Fox.

"What the heck," said Fox.The object became clearer and was revealed to be a bird bio-weapon.

"Evasive maneuvers!" yelled Falco.The four fighters scattered as the bird streaked by, gave an ear-shattering caw, and slammed into the ground demolishing several nearby buildings.A scorpion crawled over one of the buildings and started firing at fighters flying overhead.A couple of blasts found their marks and the fighters crashed into the ground.

"Things aren't going so well," said Falco.

"Pepper, distress call from the 6th artillery unit on seventy second and fifth street, they're boxed in by some bio-weapons and you are the closest to them," said the president who had decided to coordinate the attack from the ground.

"Roger that Mr. President," said Fox.The four fighters flew in low along the streets in order to avoid any aerial attacks.The fighters spun around a tight turn and saw a decimated crater, where the artillery unit would have been, surrounded by three bio-weapons.

"They're gone," said Pepper.Dan zoomed ahead and fired his lasers and bombs at one of the creatures and managed to destroy it.

"Their deaths weren't in vain, they softened up these bio-weapons.Now let's honor their memories by destroying these bio-weapons," said Dan.

"You're right," said Pepper finally.Pepper, Falco, and Fox fired on the remaining two bio-weapons and managed to destroy the other two.Above the buildings a bird came flying overhead pursued by three fighters that were firing on it.

"Where's the guest of honor?" asked Dan.

"If you mean Mantia, it's leading a group of three crabs, two scorpions, and one snake towards the capitol building," said the president.

"Where are you holed up?" asked Falco.

"We are currently underneath Central Tower Plaza Hotel," said the president.

"Be careful, Mantia could have bio-weapons that can dig underground," said Dan.A snake crawling below them swung out its tail and tried to bring down the fighters.Part of its tail hit part of Falco's fighter.The engine on his Arwing started smoking as the engine caught on fire.

"I've got to set down," said Falco.

"I'll cover you.Fox and Pepper, you'd better keep flying on," said Dan.Pepper and Fox headed out towards another bio-weapon and were joined by five other fighters.Falco started flying low over the ground.

"My engine is too badly damaged, I'm coming down hard and fast," said Falco.Dan flew in behind him as Falco's Arwing crashed into the street and rumbled to a halt in front of a building.Falco popped out of his ship as the snake approached from around a corner.

"Great," said Falco running off.Falco was a fast runner, but the snake was faster than him, and was gaining ground.

"I'll help you," said Dan.Dan landed his custom fighter between Falco and the snake.Dan grabbed two blasters, a shoulder blaster cannon, and a handful of grenades before setting the ships motion tracker to auto-destruct the ship once the snake was on top of it.Dan then ran off after Falco.The snake approached the fighters and was crawling over it when the self-destruct system activated.Dan ran at top speed and tackled Falco as the shockwave passed over them.

"Thanks," grumbled Falco.

"Don't mention it," said Dan.As they both got up, Dan handed Falco one of the handheld blasters before walking off.

"Where are you going?" asked Falco.

"To Central HQ.We should get there soon because we are really no match for the bio-weapons and we don't want to be run over by our own forces," said Dan running off. Eventually they reached another street and were deciding which way to go when a roar was heard as Mantia was seen approaching them.Dan spun around and saw the capitol building right behind them.

"Well this is just great," sighed Dan.Falco grabbed the other blaster and started firing at the bio-weapons.

"Pea shooters will not effect any bio-weapon," said Mantia as it watched the scene unfold from the air.

"Time to bring out the big guns," said Dan.He aimed the shoulder cannon and fired three shots at the approaching bio-weapons.Two of the shots went wide, but a third struck a crab in the eye causing it to roar in pain.

"Insolence!Destroy them!" commanded Mantia.The laser tails, of the scorpions, started firing on Dan and Falco as they ran for cover.

"Head into the capitol building," said Dan.The two ran behind the doors and watched the approaching army.

"Options," said Dan.

"Hold them off until backup arrives," said Falco.

"If backup arrives," said Dan.

"It should," said Falco.In front of the building two building pushers moved between the bio-weapons and the capitol building.Also, in front of the building a speeder screeched to halt and a marine called out to Dan and Falco.

"Let's go!" the marine yelled.Dan and Falco ran out of the building and into the speeder.The marine gunned the engine as it sped away from the capitol.

"What about the building?" asked Falco.

"It's equipped with a self-destruct device.As soon as the bio-weapons start clawing on the building, they're history," said the marine.

"Okay.Are we headed for HQ?" asked Dan.The marine nodded his head.Behind them, the building pushers fired their lasers at the oncoming bio-weapons.Two crabs exploded and the tail section was blown off one of the scorpions.However, the bio-weapons soon overwhelmed the building pusher and destroyed them.Then they proceeded to tear apart the capitol building.

"Excellent," said Mantia.Suddenly though, the building exploded and the shockwave destroyed all of the bio-weapons and hurtled Mantia towards a large building.Mantia clipped slammed into one of the buildings and it collapsed on the bio-weapons.Mantia roared in anger at the loss of the bio-weapons before going on a rampage and destroying several nearby buildings.The shockwave also caused the engine to stall on the speeder.Dan ran out of the speeder and looked at the engine.

"It's hopeless," said Dan.

"You need to be nice to it," said Falco.Falco walked out of the speeder and kicked the engine as it roared to life.Dan slammed the hood shut and jumped into the speeder along with Falco.

"Go!" yelled Dan.As the speeder zoomed off, an armadillo slammed through the building that was right next to them.The armadillo rolled off into the distance and slammed into several more buildings causing them to collapse.

"That was close," said the marine.

Pepper, Fox, and the five other fighters accompanying them zoomed inside the city and tried to help out when possible.

"The capitol plan worked and it dispatched the bio-weapons that were attacking it, with the exception of Mantia," said the president.

"Excellent," said Pepper.

"Not so excellent, the bio-weapons are overrunning every fallback position that we selected.They've overrun fallback positions 1-12," said the president.

"That leaves only three left before the troops are surrounded and destroyed," said Pepper.

"For those that are still alive," responded the president grimly.

Macbeth:Peppy was walking through a secret underground area.Eventually he got to a door that read: Missile Control.Peppy walked in and activated the old consoles.The computer revved to life and several screens flicked on.

"This is Venomian Interplanetary Cruise Missile launch control.Enter in coordinates for missile launch," said the computer.Pepper punched in a coordinate on the computer.

"Coneria City coordinates confirmed, missiles launching," said the computer.Pepper sat back and watched the launch silos open.

Macbeth Surface: Several miners were huddled around a small T.V. watching the events unfold in Corneria City.Then, all of a sudden, the ground started rumbling.

"What's going on?" asked one of the workers.Nearby, a section of the ground parted and a missile emerged from it and headed towards Corneria.Nearby, several other missiles were launched into the air and were also headed towards Corneria.

"We've got to alert central command," said one of the workers.

Ocean just outside of Corneria City: Two lobsters and one turtle emerged from the water and started trundling towards Corneria City.Three tanks plowed forward firing at the bio-weapons.A few feet away, the attackboats opened fire on the turtle.Several shots hit the turtle's tail and blew a chunk of it off.

"Got it," said the commander of the lead attackboat.The tanks kept on firing at the lobsters hoping that they would go back into the water.Instead the lobsters made a dash at the tanks and ran right over them, destroying the tanks and the soldiers inside.The attackboat kept on firing on the turtle until it retracted its body into its shell.

"All ships, fire all weapons on it!" yelled the commander.Every weapon on the attackboats fired on the turtle and smoke started rising all around it, several shells also blew up large chunks of the sand throwing it into the air.Eventually the guns went dry as all of the weapons supplies were exhausted.

"Ammo stores depleted," said a technician looking at the weapon's counter.The commander tried to look through the smoke and sand to see if the turtle was still there.Eventually the smoke cleared and the turtle shell was still there.Then the body emerged and the turtle trundled off.The two lobsters though were dead from the choking sand.

"That turtle is unstoppable," said the commander.A loud roar was heard overhead and the commander was sure that it was Mantia, but instead a large object fell from the sky and obliterated the turtle.

"What was that?" asked the commander.

HQ: "What was that?" asked the President.

"An interplanetary cruise missile," said a commander.

"Where did it come from?" asked Dan (who had arrived with Falco and the marine).

"The only other time that Corneria was attacked by interplanetary cruise missiles was during the Andross' wars and those missiles were launched from Macbeth," said Pepper.This statement made Dan think for a moment before activating his comm. unit.

"Raptor's Pride," said the communicator.

"When Peppy Hare escaped from our ship, where did he go?" asked Dan.

"His trajectory would have taken him to Macbeth," came the response.Dan turned to the president."There's your culprit."

"Peppy is the culprit?Are you sure?" asked Fox (who had landed outside and also entered the HQ).

"Who else would have known about the missiles?You annexed Macbeth and I doubt that anyone on that planet would have the expertise in launching those missiles.Also, if they were launched by someone who was partial to the Venomians and there idea of conquering the Lylat System, then they wouldn't be attacking the bio-weapons," said Dan.Then an alarm went off in the underground area.

"More missiles?" asked Fox.

"No, that's a geological sensor.Something's about to burst through that wall," said the president.A mole burst through the wall and into the HQ flinging dirt everywhere.

"Evacuate!" yelled the president.Everyone ran for the stairs to get back to the surface (remember, the HQ was underground).Suddenly the whole building started collapsing in on itself.Thankfully, everyone managed to escape before the building buried the mole and killed it.

"Not everything is smart," said the president starting to laugh.However, more explosions were heard as dozens of missiles rained down on the city.Not all the missiles though hit their targets and many destroyed several buildings.

"Can we still send the evacuate code?" asked the president.

"Yep," said a technician.

"Send it.We're bugging out," said the president.The signal was sent and everyone made a run for it.Fox ran for his fighter (Pepper was still attacking the bio-weapons) and everyone else ran to the transports.They all took off down the streets in separate directions out of the city.A hover transport accidentally ran right into a bio-weapon and was destroyed on its way out.Above the transports, all of the remaining starfighters were leaving as well.Eventually everyone, who was still alive, had left the city as missiles continually destroyed it.

"So much for Corneria City," said the president.

"Hey, isn't that Mantia?" someone asked.Mantia was flying over the city trying to locate a living bio-weapon, when a missile hit it dead on.A part of Mantia's body was blasted away onto the city while Mantia roared in pain.Everyone cheered at Mantia's inability to attack what attacked it.After one more hit, Mantia burst into the sky leaving Corneria behind.Fox and Pepper pursued it in their fighters while Dan and Falco were left behind.

"Just great," said Falco.A wind kicked up behind them as one of Raptor's Pride landing craft appeared behind them.

"Let's go," said Dan.The two piled into the landing craft as it burst away into the sky.

"Let's pick up the pieces," said the president to the remaining soldiers.

Raptor's Pride: The landing craft touched down on the deck next to Fox and Pepper's fighters.Dan exited the craft and on the way to the bridge, with Falco, was briefed about the current situation.

"Mantia is apparently making its way to Sector Z," said a technician.

"Why?" asked Dan.

"I don't know, I'm not the universes most deadly bio-weapon," said the technician.

"Yeah," said Falco deadpan.They reached the bridge and Dan sat in the captain's chair.

"Pursuit course," said Dan.The freighter leapt into warp pursuing the damaged bio-weapon.

3 hrs. Later: "Sir, Mantia is entering Sector Z," said a technician.

"Do we pursue?" asked the pilot.

"We do," responded Dan.The freighter entered Nebula Z (the actual nebula, not the area where the level took place at).

Macbeth: Peppy watched Mantia and the freighter enter the nebula.Pepper wanted to hold back from attacking, but knew that there was no other choice.The missile system couldn't track Mantia, but he knew that the missile wouldn't have to due to its extensive payload.He hit the button marked with an A and an upside down horseshoe.

"Alpha and Omega launched," said the computer.A large portion of the ground disappeared as a large missile launched from the ground.Pepper knew the missile was slow, but its blast radius was large enough to obliterate Mantia and the whole nebula.

Nebula Z: The Raptor's Pride was cautiously making its way through the nebula as it attempted to track Mantia.

"Any sign of it?" asked Dan.

"No sir, the nebula is wreaking havoc with out sensors," responded the sensor operator.Dan looked at the viewscreen and saw it crackle with static as the sensors attempted to display an image.

"This is hopeless," said Dan.A large object floated by on the viewscreen.

"Fire," yelled Dan.Several lasers fired but none of them seemed to contact with the creature.

"Weapon's lock is off-line," said the weapon's officer.

"Should we use fighters?" asked Fox.

"I would advise against it because we may need to get out of here in a hurry," said Dan.

"Oh all right," said Fox.Suddenly Mantia appeared in front of them.

"Hard to starboard," said Dan.The freighter jerked hard to the right as Mantia fired its lasers.Unlike the freighter, Mantia's lasers didn't have targeting sensors, the merely fired in the direction that Mantia was facing.Several shots hit the side of the ship sending pieces of it into the nebula.

"More weckage for this system," said Dan.Suddenly, Mantia was hit by several laser blasts, as a fighter flew by.

"Attention unidentified freighter, you're in my trade jurisdiction," said the pilot.

"He sounds serious," said Falco.

"Of course he does.Thanks for the assist Jake, I won't forget it," said Dan.Jake started laughing.

"Don't you ever forget about what I did for you, I'll help escort you out of here," said Jake.

"Why?" Fox asked.

"Dan, you remember about the rumor of a doomsday bomb designed to destroy Corneria?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, wasn't it was rumored to have been built by Andross to destroy Corneria.Wasn't it called Alpha Omega?" asked Dan.

"It ain't no rumor because it's headed this way right now!" yelled Jake.

"Let's get moving!" yelled Dan.

"You believe him?" asked Falco.

"Jake wouldn't lie to me about this. I'm one of his suppliers and he definitely doesn't want to see me disappear.Let's go," said Dan.The ship set into forward motion and zoomed off.Mantia watched with interest as the ship's left, but chose instead to heal its wounds.The two ships flew away and zoomed past the missile.

"Sensor's confirmed, she's hot," said Pepper.Fox looked at the screen and his eyes widened.

"That missile could potentially obliterate this whole nebula and fling Mantia far away from here never to come back," said Fox.

"Increase speed," said Dan.Mantia watched as the missile entered the nebula and figured that there was no way this missile could possible damage it enough to hinder its pursuit of conquering the Lylat System in any way.The missile stopped and exploded.First a small explosion, followed by a larger one and a tremendous shockwave, which ripped away chunks of Mantia's body and flung it out of the Lylat System.

Raptor's Pride: "Sir, we have a shockwave approaching of unbelievable magnitude!It's off the charts," said a technician.The wave chart went so high that the screen exploded.

"We've got to increase speed or we'll never make it!" said Jake.

"Rear view," said Dan.On the screen a large shockwave was seen headed right towards them.

"Jake, remember that shockwave that erupted from the fuel depot," said Dan.

"How could I forget, I got second degree burns all over my body as we were flung fifteen feet away.Why?" asked Jake.

"I have a feeling that this shockwave will fling us a lot farther away than that.You've been a good buyer over the years and I want to say thanks," said Dan,

"We're not going to die.We're going to make through this and I'm going to steal from your supply depot," said Jake with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah," said Dan sighing.

"Shockwave hit in three minutes," said the computer.Dan spun around and looked at Pepper.

"I only regret that we could've been seen in public together uncle," said Dan.

"You two are related?" asked Fox.Pepper nodded his head.

"My sister and her husband adopted Dan when he was five years old," said Pepper.

"That is why you never bothered to hunt him down and arrest him," said Falco.

"Shockwave in two minutes," said the computer.

"He's family, I can't do that to family," said Pepper.

"Plus my mom made him swear that he wouldn't," said Dan laughing.Pepper merely shrugged his shoulders and then shook his head in humility.

"Shockwave in one minute," said the computer.

"Fire a satellite, I want to how far this shockwave will send it," said Dan.A slot opened on the bottom of the freighter and a satellite fell out.A few seconds later, that satellite was rocketed away.

"Talk about fast, that thing has rocketed out of the system," said the sensor operator.

"Talk about fast, that thing was gone in sixty seconds," said Falco.

"Shockwave in thirty seconds," said the computer.

"It is rapidly loosing strength," said a technician.

"So, we might not be flung as far," said Dan.

"Best estimate is that when it hits us and we survive the shockwave, we'll be flung just beyond Sector X," said the technician.

"Excellent," said Dan.

"I said if we survive the shockwave," said the technician.

"Jake can you make it?" asked Dan.

"Oh yeah, I won't even be hit by it.I hope you enjoy this," said Jake.Two large boosters emerged from the side of Jake's ship.Dan's eyes opened wide as he realized what they were.

"He stole my hyper-acceleration boosters.You'll pay for this!" yelled Dan.

"Bye," said Jake.His fighter blasted away from the freighter and the shockwave.

"Shockwave hit imminent," said the computer.

"Brace yourselves!" yelled Dan.Suddenly the whole room turned white as Sector Z exploded into a million pieces of stray particles.Dan saw his life flash before his eyes and he wondered what he could have been.Then Dan saw a light ahead of him and he walked into it and let the light overwhelm him.Dan's opened his eyes and he saw that he was still on board his freighter.Around him his crew were laying all over the floor.Dan blinked his eyes a few time and cleared his head of the cobwebs.

"Crew.Crew!" yelled Dan.Several members stood up and staggered about lightheaded and disoriented.

"Talk about a hangover," said Falco rubbing his head.Pepper and Fox also stood up and looked around.

"Report," said Dan.

"Minor buckling to the hull, but it looks like there is no breaches, also Sector Z has been destroyed.So far, no one is dead on the ship, only disoriented," said a technician.

"That's good.Location," said Dan.The pilot spun the ship around and they saw Sector X in the distance and the exploded Sector Z farther back.

"It will take three days at warp to return to the Lylat System," said the sensor operator.

"What about Mantia?" asked Dan.Everyone looked at the sensor operator with hope in their eyes.

"Gone," was all that the creature said.The crew started cheering.

"Let's go home," said Dan.They freighter entered warp.


End file.
